Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness
Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you were certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven
If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth
Do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink… or what you will wear
Ask and it will be given to you
Enter through the narrow gate
Not everyone who says to me, Lord Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners
What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs
Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it
Wisdom is proved right by her actions
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls
Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother
If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven
The last will be first, and the first will be last
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Song of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
Love your neighbor as yourself
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you
And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.

(this is just me running through the red-lettering in Matthew)

If you rather enjoy your life as it is right now, I highly recommend avoiding the following reading material: Irresistible Revolution, The Shaping of Things to Come, and the Gospel; all three of which I am immersed in at the moment.

I wonder what Jesus has actually called me to. For the last 3 or 4 years I have been asking God what He wants me to do with my life and I know I’m not the only one. It seems as though almost everyone around me is questioning where their life is headed and what direction God has intended for them. But I’m starting to wonder what sort answer I’m waiting for.

It’s not that I think that my prayers, which were sometimes pretty fervent, were left unanswered. Nor do I believe that God was plugging up His ears or was busy attending to things in Afghanistan or something while I lifted up prayers for His guidance. I have come to see how very fruitful they were: God has led me exactly where I needed to be, when I needed to be there. He has revealed to me more things about myself and how He sees me while I’ve been journeying for answers, and has provided me with just enough wisdom to accept that it isn’t really want I become, but who I am becoming that really matters.

But back to this answer I’ve been waiting for. In the movie Serendipity, the characters see all these signs that tell them that they are supposed to be together. My perception of the way God answers prayers has been somewhat similar, involving a constant awareness for any “signs” — “I opened the Bible to a verse on teaching, I guess I’m supposed to be a teacher”, “That dream I had was about that guy, we’re probably supposed to be together”, “Three people mentioned Grey’s Anatomy, God must calling me to be a surgeon!” (which all sounds absolutely ridiculous, but this has actually crossed my mind).

Which brings me back to the Gospel, and these books on “radical” Christianity. Jesus mentions a whole lot of things I am not putting into practice. Things I blatantly ignore. And it’s not even sections of the Bible that I don’t like or don’t understand. It’s the parts that are plain as day, that I’ve read a million times. That I’ve skimmed over a million times.

I’ve been waiting around for direction from God while taking the talent, the plans, and the Biblical wisdom that He has already handed to me and burying it in the dirt.

That’s an N.T. Wright joke.

As some of you may know, I was at a conference on the Emergent Church a few weeks ago. One of the speakers was Bishop Tom (aka N.T. Wright), whom, according to Vance (who is right about everything), is the greatest theologian in our day. The first night he spoke, he read from Acts and taught about Salvation. Here’s a couple snippets from the notes I took:

-Acts is the sequel to Luke, relaying the story of how the coming kingdom of Jesus came to be.  What is this kingdom??  The sovereign, saving, justice bringing, reign of Jesus on earth as it is in heaven.
-In Jewish theology, the temple was where heaven and earth overlapped and interlocked.  Jesus, pulling that whole incarnation thing, is fully at home in both earth and heaven and is now where they interlock.  For Jesus, this reality is here and now.  The whole world is now God’s holy land.  The place of Israel was a signpost for this — don’t mistake the signpost for the reality to which it points.

-The Gospel of Luke and Acts have parallel Journey themes: Jesus on his way to Jerusalem and Paul on his way to Rome.
-The equivalent in Acts to the cruicifixion is the shipwreck.  If the gospel is to get under the nostof Caesar, it has to carry the cross with it.  So when it looks like the sea (the powers of darkness and chaos in both Jewish and Greek theology) has won, Paul pulls through.
-”When the gospel is truly being carried, don’t be surprised when there’s a shipwreck”
-The followers of Jesus, the ones carrying the gospel, are the ones who pull through the shipwrecks and say, “Nevertheless Jesus is Lord”.

-Luke has woven his doctrine of Justification into his narrative just as he wove the cross into the story.  While Paul is in prison, the guard asks, “Sirs, how can I be saved?”.  A more accurate translation would be, “How can I get out of this mess?”.  This mess.  The mess he’s in now.  The mess we’re all in now.
-This is not devaluing salvation, but recognizing that for Luke, salvation is here and now.
-They are saved NOW in order for them to be able to stand at Caesar’s door.

-Most of us have grown up believing that heaven is what it means to be saved.
-Salvation means “rescue”.  Not rescue from creation — space, time, and matter that God has called “good”.  Rescue from corruption and death.
-We have sold the world short of God’s promises, for He has promised a new heaven AND a new earth.

I’m really bad at regularly blogging.  I’m going to try to change this… starting…….. now!

Check out the Missions stuff and the new To Be Told page!!

Tonight at Wesley we all watched the movie Night at the Museum. I wasn’t able to catch all of it, but I did watch a scene between Ben Stiller and the Teddy Roosevelt display (Robin Williams). In the scene, Teddy is trying to challenge Ben Stiller to step up and basically save the museum. In a moment where Stiller wants to pass the responsibility off to him, Teddy replies, “I’m just made of wax, what are you made of?”.

This got me thinking.

I am made of flesh. I know pain, loss, loneliness, disappointment, and fear. When I fall, I bleed. I know how it feels to have hot tears stream down my face. I have been hurt by others. I understand what it’s like to have your heart “ripped out”. And I have also hurt others by the careless decisions I have made. I think about all kinds of trivial things; my own meaningless agendas. I am made of flesh.

But. There’s more.

I am made of HEART, PASSION, FIRE, and LIVING WATER flowing from a living Christ. I have eyes and ears that can see and hear things that many cannot recognize. I have a gleam in my eyes reflected from the One in my heart. I am made of the stuff of Esther, Eowyn, and Joan of Arc. The very same Spirit flows through my veins. I am a woman redeemed and called to greatness.

And so are you.*

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” Galatians 6:17

*Unless you’re a guy. Then you’re a man redeemed and called to greatness. And that’s cool too.

Hey ya’ll… I read this last night and felt COMPELLED to tell someone and that someone is now you.  Tell me what you think!

How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
Psalm 36:7-8

This is my first blog and it’s pretty intense.  In order to post an entry, you have to hit a button that says “publish” and to be honest, that makes me rather nervous!  But oh the joy of trying new things.  Can’t you just feel the excitment building?!

 I listened to a motivational speaker tonight and he must have been good because I’m feeling motivated.

He said that everyone has a story and that sometimes we allow our stories, who we think we are because of where we come from, what we look like, what we’ve done, or whatever, to hold us back.  We stop ourselves from becoming who we dream we could be because we are overcome with self-doubt, fear of failure, or maybe because it’s hard to get out of bed.

That’s pretty much what I’ve been learning/struggling with lately. 

There’s this part in the book Velvet Elvis  where Rob Bell says that God has faith in us.  Dang, I thank Him for that.  With my lack of self-confidence I’d be doomed!  I want to be able to hear His voice now.  To hear His whisper telling me the plans He has for me and saying, “this is the way, walk in it”.  And then…. I actually DO THE WALKING IN IT.  I know.  Radical.